The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-10-21
The Price oi. Land.

~ 40 hhtttCt va iSC siNdN > W
strangers who visit Allen County for
the first time to find land so cheap
here. They see that the soil is ursur.
passed. that it is close to the great
markets, that the country is dotted all
over with school houses and churches.
that orchards are in bearing every
where, that the people are social. in
telligent and progressive. and yet they
find that the price of farming land.
taking the county over. is less than in
counties 200 and 500 miles farther from
markets, where the soil has not yet
been thoroughly tested. where the rain
fall is uncertain, where school houses
and churches are yet to be built. where
orchards are barely started and where
society is shifting and unsettled. The
question naturally arises, Why is this
so?
1t may be accounted for in two ways.
an the first place, for three or four
years past the ..boom" has all been in
the West. The opening of large bodies
of land in the western part of
the State to settlement under the
homestead, presumption and timber
culture laws. caused an unprecedented
rush of immigration into that terri
tory. The result was that every quar-
ter section was soon taken. Still the
rush continued. Towns sprang up
everywhere. The spirit of speculation
became rife. Every new conner thought
if he could only get possession of a
few town lots or a quarter or half see
ton of land his fortune WAS made.
Under these circumstances the price of
land inevitably advanced with wonder
full rapidity, until at this time it is
actually true that raw land. 200 miles
west of here, is held at higher figures
than is asked for il in this county.
Another reason why land can still lie
bought eheaply here is briefly indi-
Gated in our general article on Allen
County. For thirteen years or more
the title to many thousand acres of
land was in dispute. Pending the liti-
cation the greater part of this land
lay idle, no one venturing to put cN-
pepsive improvements upon it until
the question of ownership was settled.
The result is that immense bodies of
land. that would otherwise have been
long ago under cultivation and valued
ut $50 and $50 an acre, are still raw
prairie and may be purchased at from
SO to SIS an acre. BY decision OF
the Supreme Court of the United
States the title to this land is now
quoted and it is being rapidly taken
up and improved.
1t is therefore for these purely &C.
cidental and adventurous reasons that
land is still cheaper here than it is in
the Far West. 1t stands to reason that
farms can not be worth more there.
Far be it from us to disparage any part
of Kansas. We love every foot of it
and we delight to see it all prosper.
But it can not be denied that the west
ern part of it is still on probation as an
agricultural region. l. is only two or
three years since it was regarled-by
reason of the long periods of droughts
to which it was subjects fit only
, for stock raising. 1t is true that good
ACrops have been raised there for two
years past. and it may prove rs reliable
as the eastern part of the State. Let
this be granted, and the fact yet re-
mains that it is much farther
from market than we are,
fuel is scarce and high,
school houses, churches and other
public buildings are not yet erected.
fruit must still for many years be
shipped in-in short, that region is
still in the pioneer stage through
which we passed many years ago. 1t
stands to reason, therefore, rs already
stated that land can not be worth us
much there ESTIMATED by the income
that. can be derived from iD as it is
here in the eastern part of the State.
We make this comparison, not. rs
noted above. to disparage any part of
the State. but simply to show that land
can be secured in this county at least
rs cheaply as in counties much farther
west, while il is more desirable in every
way. There is nothing speculative or
fictitious in the price of Allen County
farms. and those who purchase them
may be very sure that their value will
not decline by the collapse of some
manufactured "boom." Our popula-
ton is now aboa. Ii. 900. In ten years
it will be 10000. and the val lie of real
estate will increase in ut least III equal
ratio. Buy now.